San Diego Live Arts & Salon Series

Salons

Traditionally, a salon (from the French word for living room) is a gathering of artists, intellectuals, and politicians, usually in the home of a wealthy patron who introduces and directs topics for discussion and debate. Salons became popular in 17th century France, offering a place for controversial figures across multiple disciplines to share their work and receive feedback from their contemporaries.

Salons have flourished all over the world and have existed in one form or another from the 1600’s to today. Their velvet sofas, bar stools, or concrete floors have held some of history’s most influential figures–Voltaire, Rimbaud, Claude Debussy, Salvador Dali, Coco Chanel, Gertrude Stein, to name a few.

The Verge Salon and Performance Series seeks to recreate and reinvent this fertile ground for cross-pollination between the arts. We believe art (and the philosophy behind it) inspires art. A scientific or philosophical rumination can inspire a piece of music, a piece of music can inspire a painting, a painting can inspire a poem, a poem can inspire a novel, a play, a joke. To us a salon is a safe, spirited and welcoming environment for all artistic means of creation and expression.